"tony" wrote in message
news
good point. however, as it stands, i have no
spring counterbalancing the quill. releasing the
quill lock causes it to drop pretty fast.

until i either
1) get used to not having the quill return, or
2) find a way to fix it

it'll be painful to watch expensive drills and
mills drop dead onto the edges of workpieces.

-tony

Oh, yes, definitely. You'll need a spring, no getting around that. The
quill is too heavy to not have the spring in place, and you risk damaging
not only your cutting tools, but the machine and the parts you'll be making.
Trying to salvage an old spring may not be a good idea, either. They break
because they've been cycled through their useful life and will simply
continue to break time and again. They're like garage door springs in that
they experience fatigue through use. A new spring, regardless of cost, is
in order.

Good luck~

Harold